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OMEGA MISSION HILLS WORLD CUPNovember 23, 2007Ian PoulterJustin RoseHONG KONG, CHINA GORDON SIMPSON: Justin and Ian, thanks very much for coming in. You were at one point 5-under after 10 and looked as if you were on a roll. Pity you couldn't quite finish it off today. Justin, what do you think? JUSTIN ROSE: Well, yeah, exactly that I think. Obviously 5-under through ten, certainly at some point in our round we were beating our bettable total in foursomes and got off to a good start and were both gelling nicely. I think the back nine just came down to missed opportunities around the par 5s. Probably 9, 11 and 15, didn't get the ball up-and-down from around the green, and that was probably the key really to the round. Although, saying that, we did make a couple of nice saves, as well, on 12 and 13 to keep the momentum going at the time. But I think all in all, pretty happy. GORDON SIMPSON: Ian? IAN POULTER: Yeah, pretty happy really. 5-under through ten holes is not what you normally see in foursomes. It's lovely to be in that position. But as Justin said, the three par 5s where we probably felt we could make birdies on, or certainly be a few more under par, we didn't seem to do that. You know, that's just a little bit of a shame when you've got off to such a flying start. You know, we hit good golf shots earlier on in the round, we hit good putts and we made a couple of good saves today. You know, the only real disappointing thing I think on anything today was my first putt on 17. But you know, it would have been nice to be bogey-free but that's out of the way, that's done. But we can certainly go into tomorrow feeling good and certainly Sunday feeling happy how we gelled and hitting the tee shots like we did today. Q. Ian could you give us an example of the good shots earlier on you were referring to? IAN POULTER: Yeah, the two birdies on the par 3s, really. You know, I hit 5-iron into 8 to about eight feet. The two birdies on the front nine, on the par 5s are pretty standard birdies, really, to be honest. One was a 2-putt tap-in birdie, and then 7 -- JUSTIN ROSE: 7, we hit wedge to four feet and Ian rolled that in. IAN POULTER: Oh, yeah, I remember now. (Laughter). Q. What was your tee shot, Justin, on the other par 3 that you birdied, the 5th? JUSTIN ROSE: 8-iron to about eight feet. IAN POULTER: Good shot there. And Justin hit 8-iron to about ten feet, as well. So all of those shots were good shots leading to decent birdies. Q. And your first putt that you talked about on the 17th? IAN POULTER: Yeah, it was probably a 30-foot putt. The last ten foot of the putt was downgrain, downhill left-to-right, and I felt very happy with the line, felt confident. You know, I rolled it seven feet past, leaving Justin the old tricky par putt. So that was probably the only frustrating thing really. Q. You reacted straightaway like you knew it was going to go seven feet past? IAN POULTER: It's downgrain, downhill off the left as soon as it got above the hole, it was always had too much pace on it. There's nothing to stop it, so it was always going to run a little bit by. Q. That putt on 17, is it more frustrating in foursomes than if you leave yourself that one back? IAN POULTER: Yeah, obviously. You're always conscious, you don't even want to leave your partner a tricky 3-footer. So to leave him a 7-footer is a little bit frustrating. You know, I felt happy with the line. I just got a little bit too confident after perhaps leaving the putt on the previous hole eight inches short straight in the middle, I gave it a tiny bit too much, and, yeah, puts us out of position really. Q. Is it one of most difficult parts of this competition, this particular competition, switching different mind-set day-to-day from the gung ho Thursday to a little bit more cautious today and back to the same tomorrow, is that something that you find quite easy to do? JUSTIN ROSE: It probably is. It could be the tricky part of the competition, but I quite like that variance in the competition to be honest with you. Especially having this tournament at this time of year. We've had a long season, a very -- well, everything is the same pretty much week-in and week-out and you have the same mind-set for so long, that's why I enjoy this competition is that you do have to get yourself into different mind-sets, and I think it's probably a good part of the season where everybody is getting a little bit tired and potentially frustrated. It's a nice little change. Q. During the course of the season, do you ever feel that there are too many tournaments too similar, not just from your own point of view, but from the spectators point of view and there maybe should be more than the occasional change of pace? IAN POULTER: Yes and no. You know, I think with the Seve Trophy, The Ryder Cup, what is it, Goodwill Trophy, I think there is a few during the year. But it's hard to fit any more kind of events into the schedule like how it's working now anyway. It is tricky when you do only play this format, you know, every once a year, say, or even twice a year. It kind of focuses your mind, certainly, in foursomes. But I don't know, I think there's enough. I think there's enough of these events, yeah, with all of the stroke-play events. Q. And you, Justin? JUSTIN ROSE: Yeah, I used to like The International (at Castle Pines) which fell halfway through the season and was a little bit different. It's a shame that that's fallen off the schedule in America. Yeah, I think there was a tournament in Australia I think that did the same on The European Tour and I think those were nice changes as well. As long as it's not changing it too drastically. You need the best player winning and that's ultimately what stroke play is all about. The guy that performs best over 72 holes is going to win the tournament, and as long as that obviously doesn't change and it's a format that's not too drastic that you can get away with stuff. But yeah, I think there's some fun formats. But golf, it is to me all about stroke play and that is obviously how the majors are played now and should be played traditionally. But occasionally it's nice to have a change, for sure. Q. Can you tell us about the colour coordination, yesterday was red and white, today it's black and white. What about the other teams from other countries, because both of you are about the same age, and you're pretty much the same size, very colour-coordinated. What about other teams with maybe an older player and a younger player, how do you look at the other teams how they dress? JUSTIN ROSE: I don't know, I think if you look at guys who are friends, I know Raphaël Jacquelin and Grégory Havret, they have got some team colours going and they are obviously good mates and comfortable enough to treat it as a bit of fun. IAN POULTER: Thailand as well. JUSTIN ROSE: Thailand, as well. They know each other very well and they are in similar kit. I don't know if that helps that situation. Q. Would you like to see more like a certain uniform representing each country? IAN POULTER: I think it's up to the individuals. You know, for me it's a bit of fun. It is a team week and you know, for me I think it's the right thing to do to be out there having fun and dressing smart as a team. It's not often we do get to play as a team, so want to try and treat it that way. Q. Were you comfortable in your cravats and suits at the opening ceremony, because some thought you didn't look it. JUSTIN ROSE: That's a good question. Q. Can't hear you. (Laughter)? IAN POULTER: They were different. (Laughter). JUSTIN ROSE: I have a picture of him to prove it. (Laughter). IAN POULTER: I've been a little more comfortable in my time. GORDON SIMPSON: Thank you very much. End of FastScripts |
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